THURSDAY: Learn about LEAD at North Highline Unincorporated Area Council’s December meeting
It’s a hot topic in criminal justice – LEAD. If you have questions, be at this month’s North Highline Unincorporated Area Council to get answers. Here’s the announcement:
When: Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 7 pm
Where: North Highline Fire Station at 1243 SW 112th Street in White Center
(Parking and Entrance are in the Back of the Station)The Opportunity to Be Informed, Involved and Heard – Because Our Community Matters!
NHUAC’s last community meeting of 2019 is sure to be an important one. We will be joined by KCSO Major Jesse Anderson and Tiarra Dearbone and Melodie Reece of the Public Defender Association (PDA), the moving force behind LEAD® (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion). The PDA recognized that a policy problem resulted in people of color being disproportionately arrested for drug crimes.
In a 2011 NPR interview about LEAD®, former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr said, “…the focus here is to spend our limited resources wisely. It makes more sense to devote the greatest amount of resource into fixing the problem. We have seen that punishing people out of drug addiction is not effective. Now, with that said I want to be clear – this is a system where you use the carrot and the stick. We still have to have the stick. There still has to be a legal consequence for not going along with the program, but we want to offer the carrot first because the carrot is less expensive and more effective.”
The LEAD® National Support Bureau describes LEAD® as ”a community-based diversion approach with the goals of improving public safety and public order….” It empowers law enforcement to offer drug treatment, housing and other opportunities to people facing arrest and prosecution for low-level drug offenses and prostitution. LEAD® was first launched in 2011 in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood and recently started in Burien. Now, LEAD® is coming to North Highline. Wonder why we have been chosen to have LEAD® in our community?
Deputy Bill Kennamer will be back to update us about what has been keeping KCSO busy in North Highline.
Community involvement and input are essential to the success of LEAD® and North Highline.
Everyone Is Welcome! Please Join Us To Learn, Share and Help Make North Highline a Healthier, Stronger Community!
December 5, 2019 at 7 pm
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